Adopt Resolution #25-204 #25-203 Approving a Conditional Use Permit for an Off-Premises Digital Billboard Sign at 6111 Highway 10 NW (Kenjoh Outdoor Advertising)

This case was continued from the September 9 City Council meeting pending the appeal of the variance to the separation distance requirement.  Should the variance in the previous case be overturned, this case cannot go forward.  

Kenjoh Outdoor Advertising (the Applicant) has submitted a Land Use Application requesting a conditional use permit to construct and operate an off-premise digital billboard sign along with a variance to the distance separation requirements.  The proposed site is at 6111 Highway 10 NW, a multi-tenant retail and self-storage building.  The proposed sign would be placed near the driveway on the eastern side of the property.  The sign base will take up one parking space with the sign face elevated well-above the adjacent spaces and drive aisle.  The Applicant would lease the space from the property owner, 6111 Ramsey Properties LLC.  The proposed 672 sq.ft./50-foot-tall sign meets the design requirements of Chapter 108.  The sign structure includes a decorative base, as required by City Code, that matches the building. 

The loss of one parking space will not be decremental to the site.  Clearance under the sign that extends over the drive aisle is well above the needs of a fire truck.  

This sign would be the third and final off-premise digital billboard in Ramsey.  City Code limits the number to three within the community.  In 2022 and 2023, iDigital received approvals and built the two existing signs--one near Riverdale Drive and Traprock Street and the other along Highway 10 opposite Alpine Drive.  

Also included in this review is the Community Benefit Agreement, as required by City Code.  This agreement allows the City limited message time for important public announcements.  

Variance 
The one provision of City Code that the sign does not meet, however, is the two-mile spacing between signs.  The distance between the proposed sign and the Riverdale iDigital sign is 1.85 miles, 811 feet short of meeting the requirement.  There are other business properties to the east, but not with enough additional spacing to meet the 2.00-mile mark.  That mark is within the City of Anoka in the Anoka Technical College parking lot.  The Planning Commission granted the applicant's request for a variance and has outlined their practical difficulties in the narrative attached to this report, but was appealed by iDigital (addressed in a separate case on tonight's agenda).  

Landscaping
The property was approved for a conditional use permit for the self-storage use in back as well as a setback variance for the rear-yard setback in 1999.  With that review came a landscape plan (attached).  It appears that everything was installed according to plan, but the shrubs have since disappeared and some of the ash trees appear to have been infected with Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).  The applicant is willing to revise the landscaping to meet the intent of what was approved in 1999 with hardier, more durable selections in order to bring the property back into compliance with its initial approvals.   Staff will work with the applicant and property owner on a suitable plan.  
 

Mailed notification was made to properties within 350 feet of the site.  A "Proposed Development" sign was placed on the site.  A legal notice was placed in the August 15 Anoka Union Herald Newspaper.

One email was submitted commenting on the sign (attached).  The Planning Commission noted that page 2 of the Perspectives attachment shows the Outpost sign and that it will not be blocked by the proposed billboard.   

Alternatives to Consider:

1.  Approve the CUP resolution, as recommended by the Planning Commission.  
2.  Approve CUP resolution with modifications.
3.  Override the Planning Commission's variance resolution and the CUP resolution Based on certain findings.  
 

All costs associated with this project are the responsibility of the Applicant.

At their meeting on August 28, the Planning Commission unanimously approved a variance to the spacing requirements.  They also recommended approval of a conditional use permit with the condition that a landscaping plan be submitted to staff.

Motion to adopt Resolution #25-204 #25-203 approving a conditional use permit for an off-premises digital billboard sign at 6111 Highway 10 NW.  

Should the variance appeal be overturned by the City Council earlier on tonight's agenda, the following motion must be made:

Motion to direct staff to prepare a resolution to deny a conditional use permit based on inadequate separation distance.